Archive for December, 2016

2016 DPReview Readers’ Best Shots: People

The old man and the sea. Old and hard working, most elderly still need to work to make a living. You can look into his eyes and read his story.

FUJIFILM XT10 with 58MM Helios 44/2 at 58mm, 1/100 sec, ISO 640, F2

Picking your favorite image is never an easy task. Nevertheless, our readers were up to the challenge when we asked them to submit their best shots of 2016. We received a huge number of submissions, and it was no small job picking favorites. We didn’t need the reminder, but it underscored just how talented our readership is. Photos were divided into three categories and we settled on a small selection to feature in each.

For this category, ‘people,’ we looked for photos that tell a story about the human side of this world we inhabit. There were many beautiful and compelling images submitted – be sure to check out all of the submissions here and here.

A huge thanks to everyone that participated and gave us a chance to see your work!

2016 DPReview Readers’ Best Shots: People

Photo by Pavel Matousek

From a photo essay on Kenya children AIDS care program.

Nikon D600 with 50mm at 50 mm, 1/250 sec, F4, ISO 200

2016 DPReview Readers’ Best Shots: People

Photo by Ahnaf Akeef

The Weary Way Back Home. This was taken on a boat on our way back from a waterfall we went to see in Bandarban, Bangladesh.

Canon 6D with 24-70 2.8L II at 70mm, 1/1250 sec, F2.8, ISO 100

2016 DPReview Readers’ Best Shots: People

Photo by Gabriel Jakab

Photo taken in a rainy day or, as I like to say, the Golden Hour for rugby.

Nikon D750 at 200mm, 1/1000 sec, F2.8, ISO 1250

2016 DPReview Readers’ Best Shots: People

Photo by Michel Hébert

Here is a candid portrait shot I took in May 2016 during the Lag BaOmer celebration in the Mile-End neighborhood of Montreal, where there is a quite large Hasidic Jewish community. The contrast between the lighting of some faces (provided by the bonfire in the middle of the street) and the darkness of others reminds me of the clair-obscur/Chiaroscuro style of some dutch painters like Rembrandt. What do you think?

You could be forgiven for cautiously entering one of these rooms full of wavy sketched lines, stepping over obstacles that aren’t really there, uncertain whether parts of the walls are really projecting out toward you. Artist Peter Kogler creates spatial illusions that take over every surface of a gallery, turning it into a ‘virtual maze.’ A master of the large-scale print, he’s spent the last 30 years perfecting his techniques. The ones involving grids of lines pull off the most disorienting effects.

Pictured here are installations from the last few years, including work displayed at the ING Art Center in Brussels this year, the Sigmund Freud Museum in Vienna in 2015 and the Galerie im Taxiplalais in 2014. His computer-generated works have even adorned the exterior walls of pavilions and museums, and often feature imagery of snakes, ants and pipes.

According to his artist statement, “Kolger has been interested in new, innovative art practices, not only in the field of visual, but also in performative arts, sound and music. He continued his work by shifting the boundaries of artistic expression and developed a very impressive, emotionally and artistically convincing world, whose layered meanings open communication paths to the widest public.”

“After several years of research at the beginning of his artistic career, in painting, performance and experimental film, since 1984 Kogler has used computer technology. Heralding the future development of computer-generated art already in the ‘60s, in the spirit of that positivist-optimistic time, Michael Noll wrote: ‘The computer is an active medium the artist can interact with at a new level, liberated from many physical limitations of all former media. The artistic possibilities of this kind of creative medium as the artist’s helping device are truly exciting and challenging.”

Illusions in Iran: Surreal 3D Murals Transform Urban Tehran

The blank concrete facades of urban Tehran offer an irresistible canvas for playful large-scale murals that seem to bend reality in unexpected ways. A city of 12 million people that has been …

Body Paint Illusions Transform Human Models into Animals

Intricately painted and carefully posed, the human bodies serving as canvases for artist Gesine Marwedel are virtually unrecognizable as they morph into swans, flamingos and iguanas. The …

Inside Out: Print-Crazy Wallpaper Made for Exterior Surfaces

Why should interior walls have all the fun? Prints are nearly always relegated to the insides of homes and other structures while the outside walls are left bare, but a new wallpaper made …

A new short video introduces Gian Luigi Carminati, a 76-year-old technician from Milan, Italy, who has been repairing analog cameras for nearly 60 years. While the documentary is only a touch over two minutes long, it introduces viewers to Carminati’s analog camera collection and his thoughts on photography.

Carminati, who considers himself a technician rather than a photographer, dabbles in photography himself, describing a particular fondness for old cameras and black-and-white images. The technician has been able to continue running his repair business despite the rise of digital cameras, stating in the video,’When the digital came, it felt like my job was over.’ The documentary was directed by David Drills.

The moment I bought my first DSLR I knew that photography was my true passion. I didn’t consider myself a professional back then, but I was sure I wanted to become one. Well, the road turned out a lot longer than I expected. I have learned there’s much more than meets the eye when it comes to the photographer profession. Continue Reading

The post 10 things I wish I knew when starting my photography business appeared first on Photodoto.

2016 DPReview Readers’ Best Shots: Places

Photo by Fred Gunnerson

Every Spring people come from all over to view and photograph the orchards in bloom. It only lasts a few weeks so you have to be ready when the rain stops. The bottom half of the photo is Oregon and the top half is Washington. That’s Mt. Adams in the background.

Hood River, Oregon, USA

Picking your favorite image is never an easy task. Nevertheless, our readers were up to the challenge when we asked them to submit their best shots of 2016. We received a huge number of submissions, and it was no small job picking favorites. We didn’t need the reminder, but it underscored just how talented our readership is. Photos were divided into three categories and we settled on a small selection to feature in each.

The category featured here is ‘Places’. We tried to include a variety of our favorite landscapes and cityscapes to feature. A huge thanks to everyone that participated and gave us a chance to see your work! You can find all of the submitted images here, here and here.

2016 DPReview Readers’ Best Shots: Places

Photo by Michele Palazzo

New York City’s iconic Flatiron building emerges from the blizzard like the bow of a giant ship plowing through the wind and the snow. Taken during the historic coastal storm “Jonas” on January 23rd, 2016. Shot January 23rd, 2016 in New York City with a Ricoh GR.

New York City, NY, USA

2016 DPReview Readers’ Best Shots: Places

Photo by Hans Kruse

Morning sun at the Quiraing on Isle of Skye shot during a photo workshop I was leading on Isle of Skye, Scotland in September 2016.

Isle of Skye, Scotland

2016 DPReview Readers’ Best Shots: Places

Photo by George Fowler

This picture was taken a few weeks ago in Shiobara, an area about two and a half hours north of Tokyo in the countryside. The fall colors were at their peak and the footbridge across the small river was absent of any people.

Shiobara, Japan

2016 DPReview Readers’ Best Shots: Places

Photo by Mike Sandman

Designed by the architect Frank Gehry, inspired perhaps by an Escher woodcut. Magnetically attractive to the eye, but the roof leaks.

Stata Center, MIT, Cambridge, Mass. USA

2016 DPReview Readers’ Best Shots: Places

Photo by Derek Dammann

An early spring dawn breaks at the Dark Hedges in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

County Antrim, Northern Ireland

2016 DPReview Readers’ Best Shots: Places

Photo by Morten Smedsrud

Sunrise over the Troll Wall from Store Trolltind, the highest peak in the Trolltindene mountain ridge, Romsdal Norway.

Romsdal, Norway

2016 DPReview Readers’ Best Shots: Places

Photo by Peter Alessandria

Photo of Harvest Full Moon (Oct 2016) rising behind the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. This shot was planned weeks in advance to align the trajectory of the moon with Lady Liberty.

Statue of Liberty, New York, NY, USA

2016 DPReview Readers’ Best Shots: Places

Photo by Maurice J Byatt

Crater Lake National Park, OR, USA

2016 DPReview Reader’s Best Shots: Places

Photo by Damjan Sirca

Taken on 28/10/16 in Yosemite valley – a bad weather forecast is not always bad news.

Some iPhone 7 Plus owners are reporting camera issues including streaks of color on images, a completely black screen instead of an image preview, and a warning that the iPhone needs to cool down before the camera can be used (despite no signs of overheating). Some affected owners state Apple replaced their iPhone or, in some cases, just the camera module.

Reports of these issues can be found on social media sites and Reddit, where they date back several weeks. The issues appear to be hardware related, as they’ve persisted despite recent iOS updates. Affected users should take their iPhone to an Apple Store for servicing or replacement. It doesn’t appear any official workarounds have been provided.

A new Kickstarter campaign is looking to fund further development and production of the GearEye gear management system. GearEye uses inexpensive, battery-free adhesive RFID tags, which are attached to all your equipment. This enables photographers to make sure that they’ve got everything that they need in their gear bag when going to a shoot and that they don’t leave anything behind when returning home.

The GearEye RFID reader comes in two form-factors, either as a stand-alone device, which you leave in your bag, or a phone-cover that doubles as charger. Once your items have been tagged and the reader is in place everything in your bag can be accounted for via a single tap in the GearEye smartphone app. If something is missing the system also helps you locate it within its range.

Additionally you can organize your equipment into customized lists. This way you can make sure to only bring the equipment you need for a specific type of photo shoot and leave unnecessary items at home, thus minimizing the weight of your bag. For this purpose the app tells you if there is anything in your bag which you won’t need.

GearEye has been created with photographers in mind, but of course would work with any other type of equipment or tools as well. The project has already passed its funding goal, so if all goes well the first units should be delivered in July 2017. Until tomorrow you can still secure a GearEye standard pack by pledging $ 129. This gets you a GearEye dongle or phone case and 20 RFID tags. Larger packages are available for those who need to tag more items. More information is available on the GearEye Kickstarter page and in the video below.

The East Coast Greenway is already a third of the way to completion, and when finished will stretch from Calais, Maine, to Key West, Florida, passing through 16 states and 25 cities along the way.

Developed by the non-profit East Coast Greenway Alliance, the aim is to provide a continuous and ever-changing set of views and experiences to travelers on foot or in non-motorized vehicles.

Its creators note that the “route has been chosen to provide the traveler with an ever-changing, interesting and scenic landscape, whether urban, suburban, small town, industrial or rural,” accessible to cyclists, walkers, joggers and runners. Along the way, the Greenway also syncs up with public transportation at key spots, allowing easy access and egress for people seeking to pursue one stretch of it or another.

“It’s about seeing America at the right speed, where you can take in all of the culture around you. And you don’t have a windshield between yourself and the community.” While the project has been in the works for years, new funding and permissions gained in the last year have propelled it forward more quickly, helping its facilitators connect the dots along the nearly 3,000-mile route.

Ghosts of the Berlin Wall: 8,000 Glowing Orbs Span 10 Miles

For the 25th anniversary of its fall, this Berlin Wall installation project will illuminate the historical divide between East and West, temporarily recreating the infamous border with balloons …

Across the Country in 12 Images: 6,000 Wild Miles of America

It can be hard to explain to someone from Europe or elsewhere just how vast and variegated the United States really is, but this short epic photo series is a great start. It depicts a series of …

Rokinon has announced the launch of its new Rokinon Digital Photo 20mm F1.8 and Cine DS 20mm T1.9 Full Frame Super Wide Angle lenses. Both lenses are made from high-strength aluminum alloy and feature a super-wide 94.8-degree view, a non-rotating 77mm filter mount, Rokinon’s Ultra Multi-Coating, and a quiet, smooth focusing control.

These prime lenses, say Rokinon, offer both fast aperture and ‘the full frame perspective of 20mm,’ offering a solution that falls between the maker’s similar 14mm and 24mm models. These 20mm lenses have a 7.9in / 0.20m minimum focusing distance, 13 elements in 12 groups, three extra-low dispersion elements, and a pair of aspherical elements.

In addition to the ‘common’ features shared between the lenses, the Cine DS lens features geared aperture and controls, a de-clicked aperture control ring, and dual right/left side distance and t-stop scales.

The Digital Photo lens is available for Canon, Nikon AE, Sony E, Micro Four Thirds, Pentax K, and Fuji X mounts (MSRP $ 599), while the Cine DS lens ($ 799 on B&H Photo) is available for Canon, Nikon, Sony E, and Micro Four Thirds mounts.

Chinese company YI Technology, maker of the Yi Action Camera, and the YI M1, which we reviewed earlier this year, has announced the YI 4K+, an update to the company’s previous YI 4K model. This is the third action camera in YI Technology’s lineup, and it improves upon the previous model with 4K recording at 60fps rather than 30fps. Yi plans to unveil the camera at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2017 next month.

In addition to the YI 4K+ unveiling, YI Technology also plans to demonstrate its YI Erida smart drone at CES, marking the model’s first demonstration in the U.S.

The YI Erida is described as a full-carbon ‘smart drone’ with a three-rotor design and support for the Yi 4K action camera. This drone has a top speed up to 75MPH and flight time rated up to 40 minutes per charge.